Courage and its role in growth

Fear of the unknown can have a massive impact on our ability to realise our business dreams. Virtually anyone who has succeeded in their profession, career or sport has been able to overcome their inner fears. Fear comes in many shapes and forms, it could be:

• Fear of losing a big contract
• Fear of being unable to provide for our family
• Fear of speaking in public
• Fear of providing personal guarantees to the bank to support growth
• Fear of taking on that new overseas market
• Fear of investing in the infrastructure needed to take the business to the next level

In many instances, fear is an emotion we create in our own mind and it often results from negative self-talk. Fear can hold us back from doing what we want to do and what we want to achieve – it acts as a barrier to personal and business progression. The emotional turmoil created by fear stunts our personal growth, creates self-limiting beliefs and leads to a lacklustre performance that will not get you your desired outcome.

By getting into the habit of confronting our fears, we release the internal brakes of the mind. This allows us to move forward with our personal intentions to create the life and career we desire. Mind conditioning is required if we are going to overcome the fears that hold us back. We must get into the habit of listening to those fears but asking ourselves – how real are they? Do away with those fears by:

• Taking small steps to overcome those fears by forcing yourself to take action
• Visualise the outcome you want – not the fear factor
• Ask yourself how real is the fear?
• Dispel the invisible audience that fear creates in the mind
• How much do you want success? If you can’t do away with the fear, disappointment will result
• Exhibit courage

Surrendering to fear will hold you back, don’t fall victim to it. Take positive steps to embrace fear and push through it. Once in the habit, you will never look back – almost anything becomes a possibility.

Courage is one of the most important qualities a leader needs to acquire, without out it you can’t overcome fear, you stand still and accept the status quo. In the words of Aristotle – “you will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind to honour”

Growing a business can be a scary thing to do; it generates lots of fears. Only when you get courageous can you move things forward.

10 Ways to prepare your mind for high performance

“So how do leaders shift from lower states of mind to higher states of mind and improve their effectiveness and performance?” This was a question posed on Harvard Business Review forum I contribute to; here were my thoughts and contributions to the debate

Its simple. It all starts with what you think about. We must listen very carefully to the internal conversations we have with ourselves. The key to moving from ‘downbeat’ to ‘upbeat’ is:

1. Be aware of the internal negative conversation – address it

2. Create space to think ‘fresh positive thoughts’

3. Speak to positive people who lift your spirits

4. Tune in to the things that lift your soul – sport, music, hobbies, personal passions

5. Write down your thoughts and combat negativity with a ‘+ve to do list’

6. Keep away from negative people at all costs

7. Connect with nature – walk the dog, go for a run

8. Remember most of the things we worry about don’t actually happen

9. Think in the present and get on with it, keep experimenting!

10. Die a happy death. Morbid thought, but a powerful motivator to take action now!

The way you think governs the way you behave and act. Beware of what you are thinking about.

The ability to master the mind is what differentiates ‘winners’ from ‘runners up’. The real entrepreneurial stars are the ones who manage to consistently switch into their higher state when needed – I would describe this state as being one were individuals view both opportunity and challenge within a positive and courageous mental framework.